Beyond That, the Sea: A Novel by Laura Spence-Ash

In her debut work of fiction, Laura Spence-Ash charts the lives and longings of her characters during the World War II years, and in subsequent decades, as relationships and connections and identities shift. As a young girl, Beatrix is shipped by her parents to the Gregory family in Massachusetts remove her from the dangers of the London Blitz. The reluctant evacuee’s assimilation into the upper-class American household, a sharp contrast to her own, is complicated but eventually solid and complete. Each of the section is identified by its viewpoint character—Beatrix; her parents; each of the adult Gregorys; their vastly different sons, Gerald and William, and others entering the story later. The Maine cottage where Beatrix and her hosts spend every summer serves as an anchor and a talisman, until financial straits and advancing age take a toll on family members. Living up to expectations, one’s own and those cherished by others, and the attendant difficulties, are a consistent theme.

At the conclusion of the war, Beatrix is reclaimed by her surviving parent, returning to a London altered by time and destruction. Unable to feel wholly at home, she must forge her own professional path while struggling to find a compatible partner in romance.

The only (relatively minor, but recurrent) flaw is an accurate degree of Englishness in the English characters, whose Americanisms in speech and narrative can be jarring. Overall, the writing is beautiful and insightful, and tragedy and heartbreak are exquisitely rendered throughout. (Celadon Books, 368 pp., hardcover/ebook/audio, March, 2023)

I really liked this story of about Bea, a London girl who moves in with a Boston family to escape Nazi bombing during World War II. As the war ends and Bea returns to her old life, she begins to realize that she doesn’t really know where or with what family she belongs.
Beyond That, the Sea is a bittersweet story about the changes that happen over the passage time, and makes you realize that there’s really no such thing as going home again.

"𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 - 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔."
- 𝑶𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝑾𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒎𝒆𝒔, 𝑺𝒓.

beyond that, the sea is a debut historical fiction novel written by Laura Spence-Ash that centers around a girl named Bea during WWII that is forced to leave her parent's home in London to live with the Gregory family across the ocean in America.

Thank you #partner publisher Celadon Books and Laura Spence-Ash for the #gifted copy. I was given a free ARC copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

𝘐 𝘌𝘕𝘑𝘖𝘠𝘌𝘋...
• The beautiful prose of this story. It was so smooth and flowed effortlessly.
• The character development was pristine and I was emotionally invested in each character.
• Maine! Mainers are proud people and we love our state. It is magical and there is no other place like it. Thank you for reflecting that love into your novel.
• This coming-of-age story felt like a big hug. Especially how welcoming the Gregorys were towards Bea.
• I did enjoy the multiple POVs. Normally, I would shy away from that many POVs but it worked for me. Every character in this book is notable with no risk of confusion to the reader.
• The year markers on the bottom of each page were so helpful in keeping track. This novel spans over thirty-seven years.
• Reading about the character's relationships in the past and how they continued onward was beautiful.
• The short chapters were exclusively one character's POV and that added the cherry on top. There was no way I was going to be confused over who or when.

𝘖𝘝𝘌𝘙𝘈𝘓𝘓...
This is an amazing and well-executed story! I absolutely recommend reading this book. Matter of fact, I'm going to purchase a copy for my Mom who will be making her way back to Maine for the summer very soon. Just like the Gregorys.

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲
🥧 Historical Fiction
🥧 Coming of age stories
🥧 Where the Crawdads Sing
🥧 Home baked goods
🥧 Maine
🥧 Communication by postal letters
🥧 Love and heartbreak

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫 4.5/5 (8.86/10 CAWPILE)

Beyond That, The Sea is a novel about eleven year old Beatrix, who is sent from London to live with a family in America to escape WWII. I wanted to love this one, but it missed the mark in some areas for me. The chapters were very short, rushing from one character to the next, which I found hard to keep track of. Most of the chapters were very short, some only a few pages, which didn’t give much time to fully know the characters. The storyline overall seemed very long and drawn out, without any climax or anticipation. I’m personally a hopeless romantic and I just felt like Beatrix’s love life flatlined and in the end she settled. Overall, I’d give it a 3/5.

Many thanks to Laura Spence-Ash, the publisher, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Beyond That, the Sea is an epic debut novel by @laura_spence_ash that spans two coasts and many years. Beatrix is sent to live with an American family during WWII to stay safe from the bombings in London. She has an American host family with two boys, one older and one younger. Their mother is thrilled to finally have a girl in the family.

It takes some time for her to get to know the family, but soon it’s like she was always meant to be with the Gregorys. She makes her own friends and enjoys the family’s vacation home in Coastal Maine. She writes letters weekly to her family and she misses them dearly. But she loves the US and as she gets older she begins to have a crush on William the older brother, but she’s very close with Gerald, the younger brother too.

The story follows the two families over decades including tragedies and romance. I really enjoyed the novel- it has ver short chapters and I couldn’t wait to read more. It’s a lighter WWII novel, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t tug at your heartstrings. I’m really looking forward to more from the author.

My husband’s family is from Boston and often talks about the Jordan Marsh stores and their famous blueberry muffins! I have the recipe myself and they are every bit as delicious as advertised.

Thank you @bookishfirst and @celadonbooks for my gifted copy. Beyond That, the Sea is out on March 21!

5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a debut novel from Spence-Ash, who is an American author. It is an historical fiction set during the WWII years and the years afterwards. When the bombs start falling on London, Millie and her husband make the almost impossible decision to send their 11-year-old daughter to live with a host family in the USA. Bea arrives in Boston and is greeted by Mr. & Mrs. Gregory and their two sons, William (who is a little older than Bea), and Gerald (who is slightly younger). The Gregory's have more money and Bea learns to love both the family and the lifestyle, especially the summers at the cottage in Maine. Of course the war eventually ends and Bea returns home and has to adjust all over again. The story is told from multiple points of view, the chapters are short and time passes quickly, but the story is a beautiful one that explores yet another aspect of WWII and is a wonderful recommendation for historical fiction readers. 4.5 stars..

“What’s past is prologue,” is the hopeful message repeated through this family story that comes full circle. As a child in England, Bea is sent by her parents to to live with a family in Maine as a refuge during WWII. Bea adapts to America and becomes a part of this vibrant fun-loving family. She even develops strong feelings for one of the brothers, William. Her bond with the family and their special home in Maine grows as her own father passes away back in England. Eventually, though, the war winds down and Bea returns to England to be with her mom. Alone with each other, Bea and her mother live a dreary existence. Bea works her way up through a decade of work and time brings her back to Maine and this time she and the other brother, Gerald, find deep love together. They buy back the family home from their childhood and raise their daughter there, bringing family members together including Bea’s mom.
Bea’s past with the family was just prologue for the real story, the beginning of her life with Gerald. Up to that point, there was healing and growth and loss… everything necessary for Bea and Gerald to find each other anew and begin again. This is a beautiful, hopeful story. I’d recommend it.

This was so good. Tears were involved.

Beyond That, the Sea is the story of Beatrix, an eleven-year-old girl who is evacuated from London during WWII and relocated to the United States to live with the Gregory family. She quickly warms to their affluent and exuberant lifestyle and becomes close to both of their sons, even though she misses her parents. When the war ends, Beatrix has to return to London and figure out how to adapt back to her old life.

The story is told through multiple (eight!) points of view, over several decades, but it’s never hard to tell who is talking. I love that Spence-Ash provided all of these perspectives because it gave the characters great depth and complexity and makes you empathetic to what they’re all experiencing. This insight made the book even more moving than if you only heard from Beatrix’s perpective, even if she is the heart of the story. I was sobbing by the end.

This is weirdly the second “WWII relocation” story I’ve read this month - the first was the amazing middle grade historical fiction book The War That Saved My Life (which is quite a bit more cut-and-dry about who you want the kids to stay with, but still breaks your heart).

I absolutely loved this book and am picking it for my neighborhood bookclub to read and discuss in June.

I first heard about "Beyond That, the Sea" by Laura Spence-Ash on BookishFirst. So when I saw it on NetGalley I knew right away that I wanted to request it! And I'm so happy I did. I really enjoyed this book. Bea is just 11 years old when she is sent to live with strangers in America to escape the war in England. She bonds with this family. This story covers the years that follow, with chapters from a different character in the story. They are all very well developed and this is a touching story. I will definitely look from more from the author.

What do you do when you belong in two places, so are never truly whole in either?

Beyond That, the Sea begins in 1940, when young Beatrix Thompson is sent by ship, from the UK across the Atlantic Ocean, to live with an American family during the war. Her parents’ decision to evacuate her will cause repercussions that will echo and reverberate in both families for the rest of their lives.

We journey with Bea from her preteen years to her late forties, experiencing all of the love and losses the years bring her.

I loved this story and didn’t want it to end. I will read it over and over again.

Read this if you liked: Foster by Claire Keegan or The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman, and be prepared with tissues and blueberry muffins. I paired my readings with cups of hot blueberry tea.

My gratitude to the author, the publisher @celadonbooks, and @netgalley for the review copy.

Congratulations, Laura, what a tremendous debut! 🥰 😭

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this book. It's 1940, World War II, England stands against Germany. Many families were forced to deal with the issue of what to do with the children in order to keep them safe. Many were sent to the English countryside, and some were sent to the United States; this involved two weeks aboard a ship. Millie and Reg, Beatrix's parents, chose this option for their daughter, age 11. Arriving in Boston, knowing no one and with no idea how long she would remain there, carrying only one small suitcase, she is met by her United States family. She was one of the lucky ones. The Gregory family accepted her fully, and she grew to accept them and fit into their family perhaps better than shefit with her own parents back in England.

William Gregory is 13, and Gerald is nine so Bea fits right in the middle. Mrs. G. always wanted a daughter and now she has one. The family appears to have an affluent life style, Harvard educated father is a teacher at a private school. All three children attend the private schools just across the park from their home. Mrs. G. stays home and cares for them all.

Following the war, Bea returns to a London certainly not the same as when she left. Bea realizes she doesn't fit in her old life anymore, but what choice does she have? Our hearts ache for William, who struggles to fit into a life he doesn't want, and Gerald, who often feels lost but finds his way.

The story is character-driven; we learn how the people's lives intersect and watch the children grow to adulthood. It's a tearjerker, and the characters in this lovely story will stay with you for quite a long time. A debut novel, well done.

Beatrix is an 11-year-old English girl who is evacuated from war-torn London. Her parents make the impossible decision to send her to America to live with another family during the war. She is sent to live with the Gregory’s in Boston. This is a character-driven story about how this decision changed these two families forever.

This book was written in a unique format for a historical fiction! It had multiple POVs with very short chapters, 3 to 4 pages at most. Personally, I enjoyed the way it was written!The story itself was a WWII story, but it was more WWII adjacent. There were no firsthand accounts of the horrors of the war, which was also a refreshing deviation from most WWII historical fiction. I loved watching the 3 children grow-up and navigate childhood and then adulthood together and apart.

4.5 rounded up!

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon publishing for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC!

A historical fiction novel based on the premise of when families sent their young children to America from European countries during the time of World War II. I was interested in the book as I thought it was a unique take on the traditional WWII novels. While I enjoyed reading, the book fell a bit flat for me. I would say more of a coming of age story than a historical fiction book. Told through quite a few multiple characters, it was hard for me to connect to any of the characters. We never stayed with one long enough. There is also a lot of time jumps where we fast forward over years of the storyline, without much reference to what may have happened during that time. It would have been nice to include some letters during these jumping points to let the reader stay connected. It was an easy read and kept my interest enough to keep reading, I just wasn't blown away. Reading other reviews though I may be an outlier with this one. I do recommend this books to those that enjoy sweeping, character-driven, coming of age tales.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read and review honestly an advanced digital copy.

I stopped at 4% in. I was really interested in the premise, but the passive voice and lack of action didn't grip me. It will definitely work for some readers, though.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon for the ARC.

Outlier opinion. Several of my friends have rated this 4 and 5 stars. Please read those reviews, too, and make your own decision.

In 1940, as the Luftwaffe were systematically bombing London, Reginald and Millie Thompson made the gut-wrenching decision to send their 11-year-old daughter, Beatrix, to live with the Gregory family in Boston. Fortunately, Nancy and Ethan Gregory and their two sons, William and Gerald, are kind and loving to Beatrix. She lived with them for five years until the war ended. During these formative teenage years, Bea becomes deeply intertwined with the Gregorys, even though she knows it is only temporary. She often feels like she is in limbo. Then when she returns home, nothing is ever the same for anyone. The story then follows the lives (and three deaths) of eight characters through August 1977.

While I enjoyed the premise of the story, there are two reasons I did not love it. First, the chapters are told from eight different points of view. At times, it seemed random and disjointed. For example, one chapter makes a big deal about how Gerald will suffer when he is sent away to a three-week summer camp. But then that storyline abruptly ends. We don't know if he actually went to the camp or what happened there because the next chapter is all about Millie in London, quickly followed by a New Year's Eve party in Boston. My second complaint about the novel is that most of the characters are semi-depressed and unable to move on with their post-war lives. Bea and her mother have trouble reconciling. William ends up in an unloving marriage. Neither Gerald or Bea can commit to a serious relationship. Millie overcommits herself. I just wanted them to snap out of it. But, to be fair, their emotions were understandable. I think that is why so many others give this a higher rating than I am.

Beyond That, the Sea is a coming of age character driven historical WWII fiction told by seven POVs written by Laura Spence-Ash. And my first thought after finishing this book was WOW! this couldn’t have possibly been written by a debut author.

We get to dive into the minds and emotional toll that each character went through from start to finish beginning with Reginald and Millie Thompson making the most difficult decision of their lives to send their daughter Beatrix to the Gregory family in America for the duration of the war in 1940. We get to follow these characters into the 1970s. My favorite character was Beatrix (Bea/Trixie) but my heart was captured by sweet Gerald.

If you are looking for a WWII book with a lot of reference to the war this is not the book for you, but if you’re interested in reading a character driven story about the effects WWII had on families check out this awesome debut by an author who is definitely on my TBR list.

I received Beyond That, the Sea from the publisher, Celadon Books, via NetGalley. All the opinions are my own and I was not required to give a positive review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Celadon Books and the author for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was a sweet, tender-hearted coming of age story about a girl torn between two homes during WWII: her birth land of London, England and her foster family in Boston. It really made me think about what makes a family a family or a home a home…is it nature or nurture? Is it unconditional love and a shared bloodline or a sense of stability, comfort and belonging? We see how Bea’s displacement affects her and those within her inner circle.

I enjoyed the short, easily digestible chapters and I found many of the characters relatable. However, with having eight points of view, I feel as though I didn’t develop a deep connection with any one character. We just juggled between timelines and saw glimpses from each of them. I wanted it to hit me harder emotionally. I found the pacing to be quite slow and the ending felt a bit forced. The romance subplot took a turn I did not expect.

I would still recommend this book for anyone looking for a wholesome historical fiction read.

In 1940 London, working-class parents, Millie and Reginald Thompson, decide to send their daughter Beatrix to America to live out the duration of World War II with a wealthy host family. Over the years, Beatrix develops into a girl stuck between two very different lives with two very different families. Both of which she loves very dearly.

What an incredible debut! Laura Spence-Ash takes a classic historical fiction period and develops an emotional coming-of-age story. WWII subtly provides the backdrop, but the tale digs through the deeply layered meaning of family and everything a family entails: love, loss, acceptance, and forgiveness.

Spence-Ash's beautiful prose produces a quietness to the reading experience I rarely feel. It’s emotional and heartbreaking yet with rays of hope and love. I love how Spence-Ash explores nature vs. nurture, the innate need to belong, and how marital love can take multiple forms.

The audiobook, narrated by Ell Potter, is terrific. She offers a gentleness to the characters that I felt deep in my heart. I paired the audiobook with the physical. And I love the format (structure) of the book - short chapters, a timeline printed on the bottom of the page, and conversations italicized instead of using quotes. All of which elevated the reading experience.

4 1/2 ⭐️s, this is a very good read. Amazingly told from the viewpoint of 8 characters! Each character developed in a way that is complete, I never got confused or tired of the ever changing viewpoint. Plus, the first half is a “home front” WWII story, one of my favorite themes. Beatrix is sent from war-torn London to Boston as a young child to escape the bombings, and quickly becomes a part of the Gregory family. The second half of the novel is set in the 1950s and 1960s as Bea and the Gregory boys become adults and their lives continue to intertwine. Very good writing and excellent storyline. I wanted the childhood summers on the Maine island, still do!

Two families living through the war. One sends their daughter to live in America with a foster family. After the war can she ever go back to life as it was. A touching story